|
In 1792 Kentucky became the 15th State and in recognition of the support they gave to the Americans against England, named one county after the French royal family – the Bourbons. The whiskey made in Bourbon County gained a strong reputation and drinkers began to ask for it by name. Bourbon.
The finest whiskey comes from counties to the West, near Lawrenceburg and in particular Bardstown, a small town close to the Mason Dixon-Line. Here you will find Third Street, where Jim Beam lived and is still occupied by his family today.
James Beauregard Beam started making whiskey at the age of 16, and was taught by his father, David. The business was called ‘Clear Springs Distillery Company’. After 14 years training Jim took over the distillery in 1894 and became the fourth generation of Beams to run a still.
Beam White Label says ‘Same Recipe Since 1795’ a reference to the recipe created by Jim’s Grandfather Jacob, the first Beam to make whiskey in Kentucky.
The family distilled two brands, Old Tub and Double Ford, from the distinct strain of yeast and the bourbon was first sold to Kentucky and Chicago saloons in round, unlabelled bottles. As word spread, sales expanded West right up until the Volstead Act kicked in on October 28, 1919.
A few distilleries were permitted to operate, producing ‘medicinal whiskey’ but unfortunately Beam’s wasn’t one of them. He sold the distillery to “people who didn’t mind getting their hands dirty†and so it joined the ranks of underground Kentucky stills which operated at night to disguise the tell-tale smoke ‘shots’, hence the term ‘moonshiners’.
Prohibition ended on December 5th 1933, repealed by the Democrat president Franklin D. Roosevelt who ran on a platform aiming to abolish the Act. Jim Beam was now 70 years old and applied for a new distilling license, ironically he was awarded DSP License 230, the same license he held before Prohibition. Together with his son Jeremiah, they rebuilt the distillery in Clermont and named the new liquor Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
Jim Beam died in December 1947 aged 83.
A selection of ‘Small Batch Bourbons’, are produced by Jim Beam: 
|
Baker’s: Voted the 2007 Whiskey Magazine whiskey of the year. Baker's is a deep amber in colour, this whiskey has hints of caramel, fruit and nuts. It is a favourite of drinkers preferring Cognac. It comes from a recipe preferred by Baker Beam, Jims grandnephew, using an old strain of ‘jug yeast’. The whiskey is aged seven years, before being bottled at 107% proof and appears in a slope-shoulder wine bottle. Basil Hayden: Named after an eighteenth century distiller, who grew up in Maryland and learned to make rye. Basil Hayden moved to Kentucky in 1796 and added corn to the recipe that the Jim Beam distillery uses to produce the bottle that now bears his name. Basil Hayden is light and mellow on the tongue and there is twice as much rye in this mash than is found in other bourbons. Aged eight years it is then bottled at 80% proof. Booker’s: For many years at Christmas time, Beam’s master distiller Booker Noe bottled a bourbon straight from the cask. Uncut, unfiltered and untouched it was poured only for friends. The secret got out and in 1988 was branded and marketed as Booker’s True Barrel Bourbon’. With hints of flavours like vanilla, oak and tobacco and producing a hot finish, the proofs vary from barrel to barrel, between 121 to 127% proof. Knockout! Knob Creek: The best known of the ‘Small Batch Bourbon’ is named after Abraham Lincoln’s childhood home in Kentucky. It is aged nine years inside a charred American white oak barrel. The dark caramelized wood gives this whiskey a distinct earthy aroma, a delicate sweetness and a dark amber colour. It is bottled at 100% proof and no less!
|
